“There is no magic formula or tutorial I can share about how to become confident in your skin, but I have learned from experience it all comes from work,” she tells Verywell. “Be kind. Be patient. Be thankful. Be grateful. Set goals. Challenge your limits. Step outside of your comfort zone. Explore what your body is capable of and prepare to be amazed!” “Body positivity is the only legitimate antidote to our overwhelming body negative society,” Stanley tells Verywell. “A woman should revel in her strength and beauty, a strength which literally gives life to the universe… Yoga gives a woman the potential to remember who she actually is—to look within herself for the strength which society actively and willfully seeks to pry from her grasp.” “I hope to be remembered for making long-term, systemic change in our social system where girls are more revered for their brains and not their beauty; for their boldness and bravery, and not their bodies,” she tells Verywell. “We should celebrate who we are by empowering ourselves, by overcoming challenges, by practicing strength and resilience.” To her, self-acceptance is all about appreciating your body at every moment: “Body positivity means loving the body you are in—the changes, the size, the color—and take care of it,” she tells Verywell. “Accept that it will change with time. [Self-confidence is] the idea that you can live in your body as it is, and treat it right through nourishment and movement and self-care, without punishing yourself for the way it looks.” “To me, body positivity is learning to love and respect who you are right now,” he says. “Not tomorrow, not after a diet, or a workout plan, or losing or gaining 50 pounds. It’s loving your body right now in the very moment because right now your body is beautiful, it is amazing, and it is you. Love every muscle, every roll, every curve.” “For a long time I thought a favorable self-image was related to leanness, and that I had to have a certain look to be worthy of that kind of self-love,” she tells Verywell. “Now I try to pay it forward by showing others that you can be confident in your own skin even if you stand out. Love yourself for the things your body does for you instead of the way it looks.” If her song lyrics don’t inspire you to rise up and be proud of who you are, simply follow her IG where she often posts uplifting messages, like this one: “We are a gorgeous, infinite circle of women of all shades, all styles, in all the ways we were made,” she writes. “Inside of us everything blooms.” “It’s not only about self-love and self-care, but it’s about the ways in which people in marginalized bodies are viewed and oppressed,” she tells Verywell. “It isn’t only a space to talk about confidence, but also to engage in difficult discussion about the social and political climates that impact us. Confidence and assuredness of self give us the tools we need to keep on keeping on, to live life as fully as we can, and recognize all we have to offer.” Her video, “You Look Disgusting,” which shares the negative comments she received on her photos, garnered 27 million views and more than 92,000 comments. Her send-off message? “You look beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Even yourself.” She’s known for captioning her posts with simple gems like “I am human.” Born with spina bifida, she wanted to race with her high school track mates. Her lawsuit to earn that right led to a disabilities act in Maryland that now requires schools to allow students with disabilities to compete in interscholastic athletics. “Having positive body image isn’t always easy, but our bodies have lead us to where we are today!” she posted on Twitter. “Remember you come with one body…love it will all of your heart.” Inspired by her own journey overcoming anorexia, hearing loss, and a variety of debilitating accidents and health issues in her youth and young adulthood, Jamil encourages everyone to see their true beauty and worth. Her I Weigh posts speak from the heart: “Real self-love is not loving every inch of yourself. It’s knowing you are so much more.” Their first priority for working out isn’t about sculpting a slim, toned body, but to feel good. Just take it from this post on Clayton’s IG: “Work out for the right reasons. Work out because you want to be the best version of you. Work out because it’s fun. The results will follow, I promise.” “The fear of fat not only drives body image issues but a disordered relationship with eating that can lead to broader psychological consequences,” she tells Verywell. “My aim is to help people realize that their body is good enough right now, and it’s important that they start living their life right now.” “Life is all about perspective. I’m living the life I always dreamed of, just in a completely different way than I ever imagined,” she writes on IG. “We have to be willing to let go of what we thought our lives would look like & embrace what they are & that’s when we begin to see the endless possibilities!” “Body positivity means that I embrace every bump, scar, and bruise I have even when it feels impossible,” she tells Verywell. “It means celebrating every other body too—bodies of color, disabled bodies, non-binary bodies, LGBTQ+ bodies, and not just the bodies with a little chub that are still acceptable. Body positivity means celebration in the face of a world that doesn’t recognize the beauty in bodies like mine.” “We live in a crazy culture where it’s seen as normal to diet, to dislike our bodies, and to constantly be trying to change them,” she says. “I’m passionate about helping people make peace with their bodies so that they can stop postponing their lives ‘until I lose weight’ and be happy with their body just as it is today.” “Your size is just a part of what makes you who you are,” he tells Verywell. “You’re amazing just as you are! Don’t let anyone make you feel like less because you’re not the ‘right’ size for them.” “Cherish what your body does for you and [ignore] the projections of others and that judgemental [sic] voice in your head,” she writes. “You look damn strong, girl, but skin and size doesn’t equate beauty.” “If you gauge your life on what other people think, you’re going to be in a constant state of panic trying to please everyone,” she said in one interview. “People should just concentrate on their own lives and their own health and their own happiness, and whatever that looks like for you, be happy with it.” “Don’t allow nagging self-doubt to zap you of your power or agency,” she writes on her blog. “Quiet the negative talk so you can focus on positive change.” “I spent decades believing that I was the only one that dealt with the shame of living in a larger body,” she says to Verywell. “When I found body positivity, it was the first moment I felt like I could identify with others that looked like me. To me, body positivity gives those living in marginalized bodies an opportunity to see that they are not alone, and to encourage them to take up space and to step into who they truly are.” “Am I the only one who gets told how intimidating they are on a weekly basis?! I’ve heard this MY ENTIRE LIFE and I just don’t see it. I’ve been told that it’s everything from the way I walk, how I speak, to my commanding presence,” she writes in one post. “What I do see is someone who is 5'4" but has a personality that makes them seem 6'0" tall. Someone who’s direct. Smart. Opinionated. Goofy. Slightly awkward. Determined. Ambitious. And most importantly, someone who’s confident with who they are. So if that intimidates you, I’m not sorry." One of our favorite reads: “My body and mind aren’t dividable. All the parts that make me, the person I am today, are cumulative. They are layers of work, time, abuse, self-awareness, body image issues, self-love, and insecurity. Each lesson…ever-growing always." “To me, body image is three things—the way we feel physically in our bodies, the way we view our bodies when looking in the mirror, and the way we think others perceive our bodies,” he tells Verywell. “Body image is something that truly affects everyone in different ways and being able to speak publicly about it has been part of my healing process… We all have the potential to change someone else’s life just by sharing our story.” Her latest campaign for Swimsuits for All promotes unedited photos and encourages women of all shapes and sizes to get into a suit—and feel confident doing it. “I believe we are all inherently worthy just for being born,” she tells Verywell. “Body positivity means living the value of respecting all bodies, no matter what they look like or what they can do. Everyone deserves to feel a positive connection with their body.” “Even when I’m not feeling fantastic, I can come back to knowing that my body is working with me, not against me,” she writes. “It’s my best ally in living my fullest in celebration of radical self-love.” “Confidence isn’t a switch in your brain that you can turn on and off,” she shares. “No one is born without insecurities and no one makes the decision to love themselves without an uphill battle. Healing isn’t linear. So as your body begins to change, just remind yourself to let go.” She gives talks throughout the world on self-esteem and embracing your uniqueness—and every word she says is one to hold on to. Just check out her TED Talk to hear for yourself. “To me, body positivity means loving and honoring your body wherever it may be in this very moment,” Stanley tells Verywell. “It is so important to showcase a diverse set of bodies in the media so that young women grow up seeing a body type they can relate to, which will imprint a positive body image and self-confidence. [We need] to teach women to strive to be strong and healthy by their OWN genetic standards—that means we will all look different, and that’s a beautiful thing!” She even created a clothing line, Thick Athletics, to help people embrace that. Some of her signature shirts include cheeky messages like “Love Thigh Self” and “I Love It When You Call Me Thick Mama.” Throughout her social posts, you can find words of body-loving inspiration, like “Seriously, just stop allowing negative opinions to penetrate your consciousness. It’s so much easier to ignore shade when you choose to care more about how YOU feel about yourself -vs- how others feel towards you." Candid in her battle with depression, Kate is also open about her struggles with body image. One of her Instagram posts went viral when she shared her #jiggleforjoy. “My body is MORE than its appearance,” she writes. “My body is NOT my value. My body is simply the vessel for my fabulous self… MY BODY—IN ITS ENTIRETY—IS WORTHY OF LOVE.” “I’m insecure about my legs in this picture,” she wrote on one inspiring Instagram post. “But I’m posting it because I look so happy and this year I’ve decided I’m letting go of my perfectionism and embracing freedom from self-criticism. Learning to love my body the way it is is challenging but life-changing." “As an athlete, my body is my tool and my vehicle for achieving my dreams,” Mosier tells Verywell. “There’s no one right way to have a body, or to be an athlete, or to be a transgender person. Once we stop worrying about what others will think of us or say about us, the whole entire world opens up.” “Body positivity means being free to be me. It’s important because in a world with 7 billion people it’s easy to feel as though it’s our job to please everyone when really there’s only one person who can make memories for you—and that’s you,” she tells Verywell. “Commit to your movement,” she says. “There’s nothing to lose from movement.” One example of her social media inspiration to look beyond aesthetics for self-fulfillment came after she finished a Spartan Race: “My first @SpartanRace thank you to my amazing trainer for showing me there are more rewarding goals in life than chasing a number on a scale." “We tend to look for the approval of others to feel content or to feel good about ourselves," she writes. “It’s so important to not feed your self-doubt with thoughts that aren’t healthy and will make you feel like you aren’t enough, don’t question your self-worth EVER.” Tess Holliday is aiming to change the way media portrays women and beauty, and with that comes her part in the documentary, “Straight/Curve: Redefining Body Image.” Produced to help change how media represent women and the ideal look, this film is meant to lift women up, instead of making them feel less-than. “Some days I am feeling my damn self, parading around in lingerie, snapping pics of my bootay,” she writes. “Other days I’m avoiding mirrors at all costs, I’m hiding my body the best I can…realizing that like every journey in life there will be ups and downs, has really given me some relief, some closure, and some acceptance.” “I fully believe that life-long change can only come from a place of self-love,” she tells Verywell. “Not shame, not fear, not self-judgment. Just love. If we want to learn to honor our body and to create a happier and healthier life (whatever that looks like for us) from the inside out, we have to learn to love ourselves as we are first!” “I thought if I looked like ‘her’ (an unrealistic beauty ideal), I’d be happy, successful, and loved,” she says on Instagram. “All I found was failure (because you can’t change who you are), emptiness (because my time and energy was being used up trying to achieve something completely self-absorbed and shallow sacrificing doing things I loved) and unhappiness (because no restrictive diet or abusive exercise feels good)”. Subscribe Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts “You don’t have to be in love with yourself every day, but I PROMISE if you practice self-love you will have more loving moments with yourself than you could ever dream of,” she says in one post about stretch marks. “Seeing the way my body folds like gentle hands in conversation—patiently; respectfully; is my recovery win,” she writes on Instagram. “Because I chose it. Even when I didn’t think it was an option, I chose it.” “Something I realized last year is that I’ve spent the majority of my life giving other people the power to define me, rather than taking that power for myself,” she writes in one post. “I’ll probably spend a lifetime unlearning the idea that how I see myself is in everyone’s hands except my own. But I think it’ll be worth it.” “Go around your body and kind of thank it for what it gives you and thank yourself for your great eyesight, or your thick hair, or your nice legs, or your strong teeth, or whatever it is that you have that you were given,” she says in one video. “And make friends with those parts of your body and not try to focus on the parts that will never change.” “I believe that body positivity comes from treating your body with respect by honoring hunger, fullness, and cravings, as opposed to punishing it with a diet or restrictive eating,” she tells Verywell. “It’s so crucial to promote body confidence because there are so many voices out there (extreme diets, juice cleanses, weight loss supplements) telling us that there is something wrong with our bodies the way they are and we need fixing.” “To me, dressing my fat body can be an act of rebellion,” she says on her site. “Letting others see a woman comfortable wearing what she likes in the body she currently has I believe can instill confidence in others.” Sample posts include “the best things for you will never be perfect because perfection will never challenge you. say it again.” And then there’s their epic Insta tag line: “Assigned cool at birth.” You’ll find nuggets of motivational, self-love, real-life wisdom. She strips away the drama, nonsense, and negativity (and flat-out lies) from many of the food and body messages that bombard us every day with such posts as: “Unpopular opinion: Your goal weight and the weight that’s healthy for your body isn’t always the same.” “Your food doesn’t have to be healthified or swapped,” she reminds us. “You are allowed to have a second helping. You can say no thanks to what you don’t want.” Additionally, Spence says in another post: “Just another reminder that serving sizes are suggestions. You can eat more or less according to your hunger.” But if you don’t find inspiring messages that fully resonate with you, consider posting your own. After all, anybody can be a body-positive social media influencer—all it takes is a body and the knowledge or leap of faith that nothing is more beautiful, powerful, and contagious than love and loving yourself (and others) just the way you are.
